Toy gun with shell ejection



May 8, 1962 R. CARVER TOY sun WITH SHELL EJECTION Filed Feb. 4, 1960 N v INVENTOR.

Richard Carver A 7 TOP/V5 75 United States York Filed Feb. 4, 1960, Ser. No. 6,689 8 Claims. (Cl. 46-175) This invention relates to toy guns, and more particularly to a toy machine gun which simulates the ejection of used cartridge shells.

The primary object of the present invention is to enhance the realism of a toy gun by simulating shell ejection therefrom. A more particular object is to improve toy machine guns by simulating a continuous ejection of shells while the gun is operating. Still another object is to provide toy shell ejecting mechanism which is extremely simple, inexpensive, and dependable in operation.

One known type of toy machine gun employs a noise making mechanism which is driven by a longitudinally movable rack. This in turn is pulled by a power spring, and the latter is energized by means of a handle which projects from one side of the gun, and which is pulled forceably in a direction lengthwise of the gun. A further and more specific object of the present invention is to provide a shell ejecting mechanism particularly adapted for use with such a gun.

To accomplish the foregoing general objects, and other more specific objects which will hereinafter appear, my invention resides in the toy gun and shell ejecting elements and their relation one to another, as are hereinafter more particularly described in the following specification. The specification is accompanied by a drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a toy machine gun embodying features of the present invention, a part of the side of the gun being broken away to expose the mechanism;

FIGURE 2 is a similar elevation of the rear portion of the gun with the side wall intact, and with shells loaded in the magazine; 2

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary view looking toward the breech end of the gun;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary horizontal section drawn to enlarged scale and taken approximately in the plane of the line 4-4 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken approximately in the plane of the line 5-5 of FIGURE 4; and

FIGURE 6 is explanatory of a detail.

Referring to the drawing, the toy machine gun comprises a gun body generally designated 12, and having therein noise-producing mechanism generally designated 14. There is a main spring or power spring 16 which actuates the noise-producing mechanism. This spring is tensioned by means of a handle 20 (FIG. 2) which is movable longitudinally of the gun. A magazine 22 extends longitudinally of the gun, and this magazine has a port or opening 24 at one end, through which the simulated shells 26 may be ejected.

A resilient ejector means28 (FIG. 4) is located at the port 24. There is also a pusher means 30 which is connected to, and which is movable with, the handle 20, and the said pusher means passes through a longitudinal slot 32 into the interior of the magazine to a position behind the shells 26. In the preferred arrangement here shown, the pusher 30 could be considered to be a part of the handle 20, and it extends directly across the magazine to the power spring 16. For this purpose, the magazine is slotted on both sides, there being a slot 34 (FIGURE 5) which registers with the slot 32, so that pusher 30 may be a simple straight rod.

atent O 3,632,924 Patented May 8, 1962 ICC From inspection of the drawing, it will be seen that the main spring 16 is tensioned by pulling the handle rearwardly, where it is held by a trigger-controlled detent means described later. A series of shells is then loaded into the magazine, in the present case through the port 24 which then acts as a loading port. At this time, the resilient means 28 serves to retain the shells against accidental movement out of the magazine.

When the gun is operated, the handle 20 and pusher 30 move forward, and this causes movement of the shells toward the port 24, where the leading shell 36 (FIG. 4) first depresses the resilient means, and then is ejected thereby through the port and away from the gun, as is indicated by the broken line shell 36'.

In the present case, the noise-producing mechanism includes a diaphragm 40 and a clapper 42 (FIG. 3). There is also a longitudinally movable toothed rack 44 (FIGS. 1 and 5) which causes the clapper 42 to repeatedly strike the diaphragm 40. The power spring 16 is connected to the rack 44 at 46, and its forward end is connected to the gun body at 48. .The movement of the rack is controlled by a trigger 50. If the trigger is kept back, the rack moves all the way forward. However, the gun may be fired in short bursts, with the rack moving forward only for so long as the trigger is held back. In such case, the number of shells ejected is proportional to the travel of the rack, and therefore to the length of the burst.

Considering the mechanism in greater detail, and re ferring to FIGURE 1, the rack 44 has gear teeth along one side edge, and these teeth mesh with a pinion 54. This turns. a shaft 52 carrying a wheel 56 with depending fingers or pins 58. In the present case, there are four such fingers. Ihe clapper 42 is itself a spring strip secured at its lower end 60 (FIGURE 3), and having its upper end 62 offset sidewardly and disposed in the path of the fingers 58. As the rack moves forward, the fingers bend the upper end of the clapper to the right, as shown in FIGURE 3, which causes the main body of the clapper 42 to arch or bend to the left away from diaphragm whereupon the finger abruptly releases the clapper, and the mid-portion 42 of the clapper snaps back against the diaphragm to produce a percussive sound.

The trigger mechanism for controlling the gun is very simple. The trigger 50 forms a part of a slide 64 (FIG. 1) having a forward end 66 which moves into the path of the fingers 58 when the trigger is in forward position. The slide is normally urged forward by a suitable spring shown at 68.

To enhance the realism of the gun, it is provided with a muzzle portion 70 which reciprocates relative to the gun body 12 in order to simulate recoil vibration. For this purpose, the muzzle portion 70 is a tube the rear end of which is slidable in the forward end 72 of the gun body, and the rear end of muzzle portion 70 is connected by a link 74 to a crank disc 76. This is turned by a pinion 78 meshing with a gear 80 provided on shaft 52. The step-up ratio of gear 80 and pinion 78 is preferably made equal to the number of fingers 58 on disc 56, which in the present case is four. Thus, the muzzle reciprocates once for each blow of the clapper against the diaphragm.

To control the firing rate of the gun, a governor is preferably provided, and in the present case a gear 82 is secured to and turns with the crank 76 and pinion 78. Gear 82 meshes with a pinion 84 on a governor shaft 86 carrying an eccentric weight 88. Other forms of governor may be used, but an unbalanced weight revolving at high speed is an inexpensive form of governor commonly used in toys.

The ejection action of the specific device here shown may be described with reference to FIGURE 4 of the drawing. The resilient means 28 is simply a leaf spring,

one end 90 of which is anchored between a stop 92, and a slot 94. The spring is preferably offset at 93. The other end of the spring is bent upward, as shown in broken lines at 28', and then sideward as shown at 95'.

When the shells are pushed toward the port 24, the leading shell 36 depresses the spring, as shown in solid lines at 28, 95. The spring guides the shell upward out of the port, as shown, but the dimensioning and proportioning of the parts is such that during its passage the shell depresses the spring from the broken line position to the solid line position.

Finally, when the rear edge of the shell reaches the port, the spring reacts abruptly and ejects the shell sharply upward through the port and away from the gun.

In the particular case here shown, the gun body is molded out of plastics material, there being two halves which are secured together, edge to edge, to form the desired hollow gun body. In such case, the magazine may similarly be molded out of a plastic material, with a channel-shaped cross-section, as shown in FIGURE 6 of the drawing. It may be cemented to the gun body at the points 96 and 98.

Considering that the handle 20 would anyway be needed to energize the power spring of the gun, it will be seen that the cartridge ejecting mechanism comprises only the magazine 22 with its leaf spring 28. The mechanism is therefore extremely simple and inexpensive, and because of its simplicity, it is highly dependable in operation.

Although I have illustrated the invention as applied to a hand held machine gun or so-called tommy gun, I have also applied the invention to a machine gun which is mounted on a tripod, but which has noise-producing mechanism operated by a longitudinal rack and spring, much as here disclosed.

It is believed that the construction and operation of my invention, as well as the advantages thereof, will be apparent from the foregoing detailed description. It will also be apparent that while I have shown and described the invention in a preferred form, changes may be made in the structure shown, without departing from the scope of the invention as sought to be defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A toy continuous-firing machine gun comprising a gun body, a noise producing mechanism therein, a motor spring for actuating the same repeatedly in simulation of the firing of a machine gun, a handle movable longitudinally of the gun for tensioning said spring and moved back again by the spring when the spring is released, a magazine extending longitudinally of the gun and dimensioned to receive shells disposed end to end in said magazine, said magazine being disposed collaterally of the path of movement of the handle and having a slot extending longitudinally of the magazine for substantially its entire length, a port at one end of the magazine through which shells may be ejected in a direction transversely of the magazine in simulation of ejection of used cartridges from a machine gun, a deflectable resilient ejector in said magazine disposed in the path of the shells at said port, means connected to and movable with said handle and passing through the aforesaid longitudinal slot in said magazine to a position behind the shells loaded therein, the arrangement being such that when the gun is operated the said means pushes the shells in axial direction successively toward the port where the forward movement of the leading shell deflects the ejector until the shell reaches a point where it is free to pass through the port and said shell then is ejected by the ejector through the port and away from the gun.

2. A toy continuous-firing machine gun comprising a gun body, a noise producing mechanism therein, a motor spring for actuating the same repeatedly in simulation of the firing of a machine gun, a handle movable longitudinally of the gun for tensioning said spring and moved back again by the spring when the spring is released, a

magazine extending longitudinally of the gun and dimensioned to receive shells disposed end to end in said magazine, said magazine being disposed collaterally of the path of movement of the handle and having a slot extending longitudinally of the magazine for substantially its entire length, a port at the top of one end of the magazine through which shells may be loaded and later ejected upwardly in simulation of ejection of used cartridges from a machine gun, a downwardly deflectable resilient leaf spring in said magazine disposed in the path of the shells beneath said port, said handle passing transversely through said magazine behind the shells loaded therein, the arrangement being such that when the gun is operated the handle pushes the shells in axial direction successively toward the leaf spring and port where the forward movement of the leading shell deflects the leaf spring until the shell reaches a point where it is free to pass through the port and said shell then is ejected upwardly by the resilient leaf spring through the port and away from the gun.

3. A toy continuous-firing machine gun comprising a gun body, a noise producing mechanism therein including a diaphragm, a clapper, a longitudinally movable toothed rack for causing said clapper to strike said diaphragm repeatedly in simulation of the firing of a machine gun, a main spring for actuating the rack, a handle movable longitudinally of the gun for tensioning said spring and moved back again by the spring when the spring is released, a trigger for controlling the movement of said rack by said spring, a magazine extending longitudinally of the gun and dimensioned to receive shells disposed end to end in said magazine, said magazine being disposed collaterally of the path of movement of the handle and having a slot extending longitudinally of the magazine for substantially its entire length, a port at one end of the magazine through which shells may be ejected in a direction transversely of the magazine, a defiectable resilient ejector in said magazine disposed in the path of the shells at said port, means connected to and movable with said handle and passing through the aforesaid longitudinal slot in said magazine to a position behind the shells loaded therein, the arrangement being such that when the gun is operated the said means pushesthe shells in axial direction successively toward the port where the forward movement of the leading shell deflects the resilient ejector until the shell reaches a point where it is free to pass through the port and said shell then is ejected by the resilient ejector through the port and away from the gun in simulation of ejection of used cartridges from a machine gun.

4. A toy continuous-firing machine gun comprising a gun body, a noise producing mechanism therein including a diaphragm, a clapper, a longitudinally movable toothed rack for causing said clapper to strike said diaphragm repeatedly in simulation of the firing of a machine gun, a main spring for actuating the rack, a handle movable longitudinally of the gun for tensioning said spring and moved back again by the spring when the spring is released, a trigger for controlling the movement of said rack by said spring, a magazine extending longitudinally of the gun and dimensioned to receive shells disposed end to end in said magazine, said magazine being disposed collaterally of the path of movement of the handle and having a slot extending longitudinally of the magazine for substantially its entire length, a port at the top of one end of the magazine through which shells may be loaded and later ejected upwardly in simulation of ejection of used cartridges from a machine gun, a defiectable leaf spring in said magazine disposed in the path of the shells beneath said port, said handle passing transversely through said magazine behind the shells loaded therein, the arrangement being such that when the gun is operated the handle pushes the shells in axial direction successively toward the leaf spring and port where the forward movement of the leading shell deflects the leaf spring until the shell reaches a point where it is free to pass through the port and said shell then is ejected upwardly by the leaf spring means through the port and away from the gun.

5. A toy continuous-firing machine gun comprising a gun body, a noise-producing mechanism therein including a longitudinally movable toothed rack, a helical power spring extending collaterally oi the rack for pulling the rack forwardly, a magazine extending longitudinally of the gun along the gun body and dimensioned to receive shells disposed end to end in said magazine, said magazine being disposed collaterally of the path of movement of the rack, a port at the forward end of the magazine through which shells may be loaded and later ejected in a direction transversely of the magazine in simulation of ejection of used cartridges from a machine gun, a deflectable resilient ejector in said magazine disposed in the path of the shells at said port, collateral walls of the gun body and magazine being slotted longitudinally for substantially the entire length of the magazine, a rod passing transversely from said rack through said slots and magazine, a handle at the end of the rod outside the magazine for pulling the rack rearwardly against the power spring, a trigger for controlling the movement of said rack caused 'by said power spring, the arrangement being such that when the trigger is pulled, the rod pushes the shells in axial direction successively toward the resilient ejector and the port where the forward movement of the leading shell deflects the ejector until the shell reaches a point where it is free to pass through the port and said shell then is ejected by the ejector through the port and away from the gun.

6. A toy continuous-firing machine gun comprising a gun body, a noise-producing mechanism therein including a longitudinally movable toothed rack, a helical power spring extending collaterally of the rack for pulling the rack forwardly, a magazine extending longitudinally of the gun along the right side of the gun body and dimensioned to receive shells disposed end to end in said magazine, said magazine being disposed collaterally of the path of movement of the rack, a port at the top of the forward end of the magazine through which shells may be loaded and later ejected upwardly in simulation of ejection of used cartridges from a machine gun, a downwardly deflectable resilient leaf spring in said magazine disposed in the path of the shells and beneath said port, collateral vertical walls of the gun body and magazine being slotted longitudinally for substantially the entire length of the magazine, a generally horizontal rod passing transversely from said rack through said slots and magazine, a handle at the right end of the rod outside the magazine for pulling the rack rearwardly against the power spring, a trigger for controlling the movement of said rack caused by said power spring, the arrangement being such that when the trigger is pulled, the rod pushes the shells in axial direction successively toward the leaf spring and the port where the forward movement of the leading shell deflects the leaf spring until the shell reaches a point where it is free to pass through the port and said shell then is ejected upwardly by the leaf spring through the port and away from the gun.

7. A toy continuous-firir1g machine gun comprising a gun body, a noise-producing mechanism therein including a diaphragm, a clapper, a longitudinally movable toothed rack, a gear meshing with said rack, a wheel turned by said gear and having projections, said wheel serving to engage and operate said clapper to strike said diaphragm, and a helical power spring extending collaterally of the rack for pulling the rack forwardly, a magazine extending longitudinally of the gun along the gun body and dimensioned to receive shells disposed end to end in said magazine, said magazine being disposed collaterally of the path of movement of the rack, a port at the forward end of the magazine through which shells may be loaded and later ejected in a direction transversely of the magazine in simulation of the ejection of used cartridges from a machine gun, a deflectable resilient ejector in said magazine disposed in the path of the shells at said port, collateral walls of the gun body and magazine being slotted longitudinally for substantially the entire length of the magazine, a rod passing transversely from said rack through said slots and magazine, a handle at the end of the rod outside the magazine for pulling the rack rearwardly against the power spring, a trigger for controlling the movement of said rack caused by said power spring, said trigger including a part resiliently moved into engagement with the projections on the wheel except when the trigger is pulled, the arrangement being such that when the trigger is pulled the rod pushes the shells in axial direction successively toward the ejector and the port Where the forward movement of the leading shell deflects the ejector until the shell reaches a point where it is free to pass through the port and said shell then is ejected by the ejector through the port and away from the gun.

8. A toy continuous-firing machine gun comprising a gun body, a noise-producing mechanism therein including a diaphragm, a clapper, a longitudinally movable toothed rack, a gear meshing with said rack, a wheel turned by said gear and having projections, said wheel serving to engage and operate said clapper to strike said diaphragm, additional gearing and a governor to limit the speed of operation, and a helical power spring extending collaterally of the rack for pulling the rack forwardly, a magazine extending longitudinally of the gun along the right side of the gun body and dimensioned to receive shells disposed end to end in said magazine, said magazine being disposed collaterally of the path of movement of the rack, a port at the top of the forward end of the magazine through which shells may be loaded and later ejected upwardly in simulation of ejection of used cartridges from a machine gun, a downwardly deflectable leaf spring in said magazine disposed in the path of the shells and beneath said port, collateral vertical walls of the gun body and magazine being slotted longitudinally for substantially the entire length of the magazine, a generally horizontal rod passing transversely from said rack through said slots and magazine, a handle at the right end of the rod outside the magazine for pulling the rack rearwardly against the power spring, a trigger for controlling the movement of said rack caused by said power spring, said trigger including a part resiliently moved into engagement with the projections on the wheel except when the trigger is pulled, the arrangement being such that when the trigger is pulled the rod pushes the shells in axial direction toward the leaf spring and the port where the forward movement of the leading shell deflects the leaf spring until the shell reaches a point where it is free to pass through the port and then is ejected upwardly by the leaf spring means through the port and away from the gun.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,421,334 Williams June 27, 1922 2,578,029 Ahmanson Dec. 11, 1951 2,887,809 Nichols May 26, 1959 2,892,289 Ryan June 30, 1959 2,921,573 Horowitz et al Jan. 19, 1960 

